Outdoor recreation continues to increase in popularity. The increase is in part due to advancements made in both technology and materials that generally improve the ability of athletes, adventurers, climbers, skiers, and otherwise outdoor enthusiasts to participate in outdoor activities in a variety of places, environments and conditions. With the general increase in popularity of these outdoor activities, access to more extreme environments and under more rigorous conditions is likewise becoming more prevalent. The environments and conditions that the participants experience are often times extreme. The extreme conditions may be associated with either, the environmental (e.g., temperature, water, ice, etc.), atmospheric (e.g., high UV, high altitude), and/or under heightened physiological conditions (e.g., active, fast, deep aerobic breathing, etc). Because of the increasingly extreme conditions that people are exposing themselves to, protection, particularly head and face protection is becoming more important.
Some facial protection exists today. In particular, existing facial protection solutions may include materials, such as exclusively knitted or exclusively woven materials. Knitted materials tend to stick to the user's face, allow ice/snow to stick to the outside of the mask, too close to face for a desired air pocket, may stay wet from breath condensation, or have low breathability. Woven materials, on the other hand, may not stay securely around the head or on the face, may not be easily adjusted, or be too hot for aerobic activity or warm weather sports.
Additionally, the materials used generally require stitching for the seam and may increase chafing and lack the necessary water-resistance and breathability. Further, modifications made to the material either fail to provide for adequate protection from sun, wind, ice, snow, cold air or may be spaced inappropriately for adequate respiration. As described above, absorbent materials, such as knits, soak in breath moisture, becoming clammy or freezing against the skin due to trapped condensation. These materials are also porous allowing for snow and ice to stick to the outside which in turn cools and freezes the fabric. Thus, there is a need for devices and techniques that provide improved weather-resistant facial protection.